Selling a property in the UK to aid a family move to Canada

Claire was instructed on behalf of Mr & Mrs A in connection with their sale of their family home. They and their two children were emigrating to Canada to be with family. We were instructed in the July but the initial buyer was unable to sell their own property so the chain was not complete until September.

Contract papers were issued in September by which time Mrs A had already moved to Canada to settle the children into their new school. Mr A was still in the UK to deal with the sale.

Mr A could not hand notice in at his place of work until we had exchanged; and the buyers solicitor refused to communicate via the agents and was very hard to get hold of. By the end of October Mr A was becoming increasingly frustrated at the delay as he was anxious to get out to his family. Clare worked closely with the selling agents and the agent for the buyers own sale to ensure that communication was consistent to allay Mr A’s concerns. The buyers subsequently sought a price reduction of £3,000 which we agreed on the basis that they exchanged by a particular date. They did not meet that date and Mr A left for Canada early November leaving Claire to deal with the sale. Claire finally exchanged on 1st December.

After completion – the buyers solicitor noticed that we hadn’t given them the £3,000 allowance; but Claire reminded him that it was conditional on exchanging well before 1st December. The client therefore saved that discount. On completion the funds were transferred to Canada to facilitate the purchase of a new property there for the family.

“Claire was wonderful during a particularly stressful and complicated international move.  We were grateful for her support and help. She made clear options and helped negotiate through some testing situations.”